Food Finds

My one concern about moving to Japan was the food. Would I be able to find anything to eat that was not fish flavored? What about baby food...and pizza...and ice cream? Well, my one concern has been my least worry out here. The food is amazing! That's not to say it's not strange. You can't buy tortillas or cheddar cheese. Bread is a dessert and comes in huge white slices, already loaded with butter and sugar. The baby food is fish flavored--codfish to be exact--but I did find sweet potato and pumpkin and apple flavor. Yes, the cantaloupes are $16, but the pineapple, honeydew, and bananas are regular price. Grocery shopping is a great adventure, especially because I can't read the label. Is it bad for me? I have no idea! I can't read the ingredients! Maybe that's why I'm enjoying the food so much. Is this flour or tempura flakes? Is it barbecue sauce or plum sauce? Who knows? It's just great fun for me to go grocery shopping on a budget when I can't read what I'm buying. Luckily, I can recognize soymilk, eggs, and noodles. Hooray!
One thing that's especially fun is the pastries here. Japanese people love fancy desserts with their tea. Every grocery store has a bakery with huge cream filled croissants, sponge cake, chocolate mousse, mochi...yummy. Mochi is my new favorite dessert, made from gelatinous rice flour. A popular cartoon character here is anpan man. Anpan is a roll filled with red bean paste that is very popular here. I love it. You can also find pizza in the bakery. Pizza here has a ton of different toppings. We saw one with bacon, weanies, and ketchup the other day. Sweets are also huge here. I got a white chocolate lemon aero bar the other day. We did find peanut butter--$2.50 for a small jar--but it was whipped and so worth it. Fox and I are just so overjoyed that we have loved everything we've tried..and everything I've experimented with cooking. I could devote a whole blog to Japanese food...maybe I will.

This "pizza" is a slice of bread with a smattering of cheese and corn kernels. Very popular.


Below is a box of mochi ice cream I bought. It's so yummy. The mochi are tiny, though.